How did you get started cooking ?

[Pygmy]

I was married at a fairly tender age (21) and my wife was a decent cook, but she had no experience cooking wild game and fish, and she really didn't LIKE to cook.. It was just another household chore to her.

So I began to cook the fish and game and gradually took over nearly all the cooking duties..I enjoy doing it. To me it is very relaxing to spend time in the kitchen, sipping on a beer and conjuring up gastronomical delights. My Mom was a wonderful cook, and I learned a lot from her.

I have since divorced the wife. My fiance', The Mermaid, is a good cook, but she prefers the baking and desserts.

I am a main course guy, so we make a good team.

[Skillet]

I learned a lot from my grandfather, he was really good at just going on a whim. He said some of the best recipes are the ones you come up with after a few glasses of Black Velvet.

[Dom]

I started out watching mom and dad.Since I moved out early i have been my own cook.My wife cook's some great meal's however i ca not stay out of the kitchen.The kitchen is my man room,and i do most of the cooking.Still nothng like my dad's sauce but geting better.

[Doewhacker]

I liked to cook as a kid so I went to school for it, still love cooking wether its at work or at home. I don't hardly ever cook at work now but instead I create menu's and such. At home due to my wife's work schedule she does most of the cooking but I still find time to be creative. I am guilty of trying something once and liking it and then never making it again because I forget and because I like to try new recipies and dishes constantly. I keep a hefty recipie binder at home with all of the hits in it.

Nothing will ever compare to cooking in a busy restaurant though, once in a while I miss it but I enjoy regular life more. lol

[Culvercreek hunt club]

Believe it or not I learned much of it in Boy Scouts. Our leaders were very picky about the food...lol. We spend a great deal of time on different cooking techniques.

If you can cook on an open fire....having a stove/oven makes it a breeze

[Deerthug]

I learned to cook from my mother in law believe it or not. I learned how to make fresh tomato sauce (or as the non-Italians call it - gravy). It all starts with picking bushels of tomatos, blanching them, peeling them and canning them. Also learned how to make lasagna, eggplant parm, and chicken parm. But nothing beats a nice 2" thick venison steak or even porterhouse on the BBQ. The BBQ is my domain - year round. When we get heavy snow I would first clear a path from the back door to the grill.

I also like to slow cook venison, pork and brisket. OK - now I'm getting hungry. Is it lunch time yet???

The wife is a great cook, who learned from her mother. But most of the time nowadays when I don't have to meet clients or run to court I do most of my computer/paperwork at home. So I'm the one who usually gets things ready for dinner. Often the wife will prepare dinners the night before and I would stick it in the oven and watch over it until she gets home from work. We make a great team together.

Edited February 1, 2012 by Deerthug

[Early]

Hunger....It's a great motivator!!!!

[WNYBuckHunter]

My mom told me at about 12, that if I wanted something to eat, make it for myself. Thats when my never ending culinary experiment started. I began making things right out of cook books and learning tricks from my mom and dad (both are good cooks), then started experimenting and modifying recipes until I came up with my own versions. As I got older and started learning what flavors work together, I started developing my own recipes and dishes.

To this day, I am constantly experimenting with recipes. Some work, others dont. I love it, and have a great time doing it.

[Geno C]

i LOVE cooking... I kind of got into it watching my mom all the time. when i started doing things myself it was trial and error. Now i go by thinking it out in my head and run with it. The wife loughs because i do a ton of cooking and out of the past 5 years i only made 2 things that were so so. i must be doing something right lol

[Uncle Nicky]

Started washing dishes & working fast food as a teenager, decided to make a career out of it. Went to school in Hyde Park, NY, worked as a chef for 10 years. Along came Mrs Wonderful & a couple kids, made a career change or two, now I'm a 9-5er in an office. I still fix dinner every night, butcher deer for select friends, and cater an occasional party.

[tuckersdaddy]

the basics i learned from mom, my advanced studies came from the food network (gotta love alton brown) the rest has been trial and error (and an ex-wife who had problems even dialing the pizza delivery place!)

[PREDATE]

I've known how to cook since a young age, but got more into it after living with my Aunt for a few months some years ago. She's a wonderful cook and recieved most of her influence from my late Grandmother.

 I love wild game and wild plants/mushrooms. I like to let my taste influence the recipe.

 

[Paula]

I had my first apartment when i was 16 so i had to cook. I ate alot of soups. The first time i cooked spinach i cooked it in a huge pot of water for almost an hr and someone came over and i asked how do i know when its done, she laughed and i ended up throwing it away

[PREDATE]

yuuum! I love greens. You got me thinking of sauteed swiss chard!

[Paula]

Love swiss chard!

[Elmo]

My dad (who's a great cook) taught me the basics and foundation as when I was young.  He too thought that I should at least know how to make some basic stuff when he's not around and I'm hungry.  I took it for granted that I learned from a great teacher until I got to college and people were telling me I was a pretty good cook.  Of course I took advantage of it.  A well made dinner for two always sealed the deal if you know what I mean *wink* *wink*.  So I started experimenting, trying new recipes, etc.

 

Unfortunately, since I met my wife, I only cook once in a blue moon and thus my skills have started to diminish.  Don't seem to find the time to cook as much as I use to.

[josephmrtn]

I woke up one day hungery and stomped into the kitchen an started expermenting...

[Gthphtm]

Now that I live by my self  and hate any food in a plastic container,Google is your friend. When I was young and just starting school My Mom who worked would drop me off at one of my two grandmothers one had 7 children and the other had 8 so there was plenty of food to be preped.by both.I learned at an early age how to peel potatoes and every thing else,the worst was grating horse radish around Easter.The next was de feathering chickens and ducks which my one grandmother had me do, because she sold them for meat.( HA HA as I am typing Right outside the window is a young tom,little 3 " beard ) So I learned at an early age how to prep. food and it payed off.        

[F-150]

I watched my mother growing up, and being single if you want to eat good food , you have to learn how to cook. My mother usually didn't measure the ingredients , she would just add various things together and make great dishes . I didn't understand until many years later she was cooking in proportion. She had apeanut butter fudge recipe from her mother, growing up during the  depression era you had make for yourself , you couldn't afford to buy candy. I make that fudge today , people ask the recipe for it , I tell them and they say it sounds like theur isn't a recipe. I just pour the amount of sugar into a saucepan for the amount I wish to make, add milk stir it , boil until it reachs the soft ball stage in a cup of cold , add peanut butter and vanila , stir with electric mixer , with pan in cold water in sink, when it starts to thicken good pour on a buttered plate.

[burmjohn]

My mom at first then college kicked me into full gear with the help of the internet Ill con anything. Allrecipies.com rocks.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk HD

[ELMER J. FUDD]

I got hungry. That's how I learned to cook. (With Early on this one)

[tuckersdaddy]

I watched my mother growing up, and being single if you want to eat good food , you have to learn how to cook. My mother usually didn't measure the ingredients , she would just add various things together and make great dishes . I didn't understand until many years later she was cooking in proportion. She had apeanut butter fudge recipe from her mother, growing up during the  depression era you had make for yourself , you couldn't afford to buy candy. I make that fudge today , people ask the recipe for it , I tell them and they say it sounds like theur isn't a recipe. I just pour the amount of sugar into a saucepan for the amount I wish to make, add milk stir it , boil until it reachs the soft ball stage in a cup of cold , add peanut butter and vanila , stir with electric mixer , with pan in cold water in sink, when it starts to thicken good pour on a buttered plate.

oh i know what you mean.....

i have a bread recipe from my great grand mother, 4 handsfull of flour, a bit of sugar, a pinch of salt and yeast, mix let rise, knead let rise, heat up oven 2 ash logs to hold, bake till done. love those old recipes!